"Ten ladies, arranged in two rows, with numbers referring to notes etched beneath the design, their proposed offices etched above their heads. ... '(1) First Lady of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer.' The 'Duc - ss of Gor-n' (Pitt's friend), wearing a tartan drapery, sits at a writing-table. Facing her, with outstretched right arm, is '(2) President of the Council and Duc-ss of Ric-nd.' '(3) Lady High Chancellor is the Coun-ss of Buc-s-e', very short and fat, in wig and gown and holding the purse of the Great Seal. Facing her is '(4) Chamberlain', who is 'Margr-ne of Ans-h', wearing a coronet and feathers, and holding a long wand of office. '(5) Mistress of the Horse' holding a whip is 'Lady Arc-r.' '(6) First Lady of the Admiralty' is 'Mrs Jo-n', with her arms folded, in profile to the right, as if playing the part of Priscilla Hoyden in 'The Romp', see British Museum Satires No. 6875, but wearing a naval cocked hat, emblem of her liaison with the Duke of Clarence, see British Museum Satires No. 9009. Facing her is '(7) Secretary of War & Capn of the Guards, La-y Wa-ce' (sister of No. 1); she wears a military cocked hat and coat with epaulettes, her hands placed truculently on her hips. (Her friendship with Dumouriez is perhaps hinted at.) '(8) Mistress of the Buck Hounds', is 'March-ss of Sa-ry', thin and weatherbeaten, holding two hounds on a leash, '(9) Ranger of Hyde Park', is 'La-y La-e' (wife of Sir John Lade) wearing a riding-habit and holding a riding-switch. '(10) Post Mistress General and Inspector of Mis-sent Letters' is 'La-y Je-y'. She sits at a round table on which are many letters and appliances for opening and re-sealing them, including a spirit-lamp inscribed 'Hot water'. She holds a lighted candle and peers through spectacles at a sealed letter."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Artist and printmaker from British Museum catalogue., Publisher's advertisement following imprint: ... folio's of caracatures [sic] lent out for the evening., and With illegible monogram, perhaps a collector's mark, written in brown ink in lower margin.
Publisher:
Pubd. Febry. 1st, 1797, by S.W. Fores, No. 50 Piccadilly, corner of Sackville St. ...
Subject (Geographic):
England and Great Britain.
Subject (Name):
Gordon, Jane Gordon, Duchess of, 1748-1812, Richmond, Mary, Duchess of, 1740-1796, Buckinghamshire, Albinia Hobart, Countess of, 1738-1816, Craven, Elizabeth, 1750-1828, Archer, Sarah West, Lady, 1741-1801, Jordan, Dorothy, 1761-1816, Lady Wallace, -1803, Cecil, Mary Amelia, Marchioness of Salisbury, 1750-1835, Lade, Letitia, Lady, -1825, and Jersey, Frances Villiers, Countess of, 1753-1821
"A scene from Act V of Murphy's play as performed at the private theatre of the Duke of Richmond at Richmond House, on 20 April 1787 and subsequently. Lovemore (Lord Derby) stands between Mrs. Lovemore (Mrs. Damer), who holds his right arm, and the Widow Belmour (the fat Mrs. Hobart). Beside the Widow, and on the extreme right, stands a very thin man dressed with exaggerated foppishness, his hat under his arm; he says, "As the man says in the Play your Lordship is right welcome back to Denmark". He is Sir Brilliant Fashion, played by the Hon. Richard Edgcumbe. Mrs. Damer says, "This is Lord Etheridge Madam", and Mrs. Hobart answers, "No Madam this is Lord Lovemore"; the speeches have been transposed by an engraver's error. In a stage box on the extreme left sit the Duke of Richmond and a lady (the Duchess?) holding an enormous muff, her high coiffure much exaggerated. The box is decorated with a group, two crossed cannon, lying on a plan of a fort, with a kettle-drum, surmounted by a laurel wreath, an allusion to Richmond's unpopular scheme for fortifying Portsmouth and Plymouth, see BMSat 6921, &c. The ladies have tiny faces, framed in elaborately dressed hair, which contrast with Lord Derby's large head. A draped curtain frames the stage; in the centre is the customary 'Veluti in Speculum'."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Veluti in speculum
Description:
Title from item., Attributed to Captain Mercer by the curator based on style., At top of print: Veluti in speculum., Temporary local subject terms: Horace Walpole refers to subject -- Richmond House Theatre -- Arms -- Richmond fortifications., and Watermark: E & P.
Publisher:
Pub'd Aprl. 23, 1787 by H. Humphries, Bond Strt
Subject (Name):
Buckinghamshire, Albinia Hobart, Countess of, 1738-1816, Richmond, Charles Lennox, 3d Duke of, 1735-1806, Richmond, Mary, Duchess of, 1740-1796, Damer, Anne Seymour, 1748 or 1749-1828, Valletort, Viscount 1764-1839 (Richard Edgcumbe),, Smith-Stanley, Edward, 1752-1834, and Derby, Elizabeth Farren Stanley, Countess of, 1759 or 62-1829
